Under the Purple Sky
by OwlinAMinor
Summary: In which two people who never would have met in a normal situation become something more than friends. Korea/Latvia or Latvia/Korea or both oneshot.  Christmas present for TropicCitrus.


**UNDER THE PURPLE SKY**

**RATING: T**

**PAIRINGS: Korea/Latvia, Latvia/Korea**

**GENRE: Romance & Hurt/Comfort**

**DESCRIPTION: In which two people who never would have met in a normal situation become something more than friends.**

**LENGTH: One-shot.**

**POV: 3rd person**

**Hetalia characters, please consider yourselves disclaimed. (Like a boss.)**

**This story was a Christmas present for Julienne, a.k.a. TropicCitrus.**

* * *

><p>When Im Yong Soo woke up, the sky was purple.<p>

He thought that was odd; the sky was usually green or yellow or a combination of the two. He knew that, if he wanted, he could change the sky to whatever color he wished it to be, but at the moment, he liked it purple. The purple cast everything in a dark, royal light, like a storm was coming. Im Yong Soo liked storms; they were powerful and exciting – just like him.

Im Yong Soo was an author. He wrote of the polka-dotted skies and the triangular, solemn-faced sun and the pale, exquisite moon and the creatures that lived and breathed and loved beneath them. HE wrote because he knew. He knew because it had all originated in him.

People called him crazy for saying that, berated him for believing himself to be some sort of god, but Im Yong Soo didn't care. He knew he wasn't a god; he just knew hat everything in the world was in the world thanks to him. He knew it as surely as he knew that, today, the sky was purple.

His publishers didn't care, either – he wrote good stories and made good money, so, as far as they were concerned, as long as he made his deadlines, he could do and think whatever the fuck he wanted.

It was a lonely life. He had everything and nothing, wealth and power and nobody to share it with. Most of the time, though, he didn't dwell on that; he focused all of his mental energy on figuring out how it all worked, this world that had originated in him, and writing it down for everyone else to understand.

But today, he had just met his deadline – today was the day when he went out into that world to find inspiration.

So, Im Yong Soo skipped down two flights of stairs and out of his apartment building (he never walked when skipping was an option), where the purple sky and the dragon's-breath clouds and the snorting, jumping, weeping, pissing life of the city awaited him. It was pissing today because the sky itself was pissing – pissing out hard, wet pellets of liquid sunshine.

There weren't very many people outside, and those who _had _ventured out to brave the less-than-desirable weather were only halfway there, racing around like chickens with their heads cut off, drenched and wishing they could be anywhere else.

Their deadness and sameness made Im Yong Soo feel twice as alive.

He stopped them – an inexplicably joyful Korean with a face full of life – to inform them of who he was.

"Hi! I'm Im Yong Soo, and you originated in me, _daze_~!"

"Hey, how's it going, person-who-originated-in-me? I'm Im Yong Soo, by the way, _daze_~!"

"Oh, you have some lovely breasts, can I claim them, _daze_~? My name is Im Yong Soo, and you originated in me!"

"_Daze_~! You originated in me, the amazing Im Yong Soo! Isn't that wonderful, _daze_~?"

For the most part, these people treated him like an unwanted tramp in a movie theater – they looked at him strangely, then tried to get away as quickly as possible.

One person, however, reacted differently. He was a slight man, really more of a boy than a man, with a timid, beaten-down composure. His posture and facial expression seemed to suggest that he was always expecting to be trod on. Contrary to how he acted, his looks – light golden hair, a quietly handsome face, and large, dark blue, almost violet eyes – were the looks of royalty, even in jeans and a dirty sweatshirt that was much too big for him.

"Um, are you s-sure about that?" he stammered to Im Yong Soo, halting in his wet, uncomfortable treck to the grocery store.

"Of course I'm sure~" Im Yong Soo replied, full of energy and excitement at the fact that somebody had actually stopped to talk to him. "Sureness originated in me, _daze_~!"

"O-oh," the other man said.

And then, there was an awkward silence in which the timid man looked down and felt awkward and the Korean thought:

_Awkward silence …_

_Awkward silence …_

_Haha~_

_A gay baby is born, daze~!_

_Gay babies originated in me, daze~!_

…

_I wonder who this guy is …_

_He must be pretty awesome, since he stopped to talk to me …_

_I wonder if …_

"Hey! Random awesome dude!" Im Yong Soo exclaimed suddenly. "Want to go on an adventure with me, _daze_~?"

"An … an adventure?" the other man asked.

"Yeah~!" The Korean beamed at him, a five-year-old enraptured by a new toy. "A really _exciting_ adventure, _daze_~!"

"Wh-what would we be doing on this adventure?"

Im Yong Soo glanced around, made sure nobody was listening, and then drew the other man close to whisper in his ear:

"_I don't know, daze_~!"

"Y-you don't … _know_?" the man said.

"Yeah~! That's what makes it so exciting," the Korean explained. "So, wanna come, _daze_~?"

"Well, um … if I don't bring a crate of vodka back to my boss in the next twenty minutes, he won't be very happy and he'll probably start shrinking me by pushing down on my head again …"

"Oh. Well. That's not very nice."

"I … I know … so … um …"

"You're coming with me, _daze_~!" Im Yong Soo grabbed the smaller man's arm and began dragging him in the opposite direction, much to the amusement of a few random passers-by.

"Wh-what?" he stammered. "B-but my boss …"

The Korean laughed – an odd, maniacal laugh, but a happy laugh nonetheless. "Screw your boss, _daze_~!"

"A-ah, I don't think that would be a good idea …"

"I don't mean _literally_ – I just mean that you should get out more, be free, have fun, enjoy your life, you know, _daze_~?"

"Um …" He still wasn't sure.

"Besides," the Korean added, "I'll protect you from your boss. I have boss _tae kwon do_ moves, _daze_~!"

He began demonstrating his "boss _tae kwon do_ moves" in the middle of the sidewalk, punctuating each with a "_hyah_~!" or a "_hah_~!" or a "_daze_~!"

It looked so ridiculous – like a dog doing the can-can – that the timid man couldn't help laughing out oud.

Im Yong Soo grinned. "I take that as a yes."

"Well …" The other man hesitated, then, finally, sighed. "Okay."

"Yay, _daze_~!"

And off they went, into the city under the purple sky.

"Hey, what's your name?"

"Um … R-Raivis Galante …"

"Nice to meet you, Raivis~! I'm Im Yong Soo, and you originated in me, _daze_~!"

"Yeah, I a-already knew that …"

"Well, it can't hurt to learn it again, _daze_~! So, what do you think, where should we go on our adventure?"

"I-I don't know …"

"Just pick a random direction!"

"Um ... I guess left looks okay …"

"Left it is, then! Come on, _daze_~!"

* * *

><p>Streets exist to be wandered, and wander they did. No store was left un-explored, no corner left un-turned, no crack left un-stepped on. The city was their mansion, and they were its housekeepers, charged with visiting every room and ensuring that everything was all right. They didn't know where they were going, but they didn't care, and they trusted in providence or fate or god or themselves to end up somewhere worthwhile.<p>

The few people who saw them, out on a great and terrible day such as that, found them a strange sight: an Asian man, short in stature but tall in spirit, wearing jeans and the most obscure, bight pink of jackets, jabbering loudly and gesticulating madly, leading by the hand a slight, barely noticeable scrap of a person, quietly stammering the occasional response or question or new direction to take. One was a squirrel and the other a mouse, a combination that somehow seemed to fit together as well as peanut butter and jelly.

A perfect combination, but an odd combination, and those who noticed it wondered.

* * *

><p>And then, somehow, they ended up at a park. It wasn't a particularly big park, but it was pleasant – full of trees and grass and paths winding through it all, a heavenly haven set apart from the clamor of the city. The liquid sunshine had ceased, allowing its rival, the sun himself, to peek out of his protective cocoon of cloud, bringing a more light purple sort of glow to everything.<p>

The two men, now connected in a way that only people who have shared the most strange and wonderful of experiences can be connected, sat side by side on a bench at the edge of the park, gazing out at the city spread before them like an endless map of infinite possibility.

"It's beautiful, isn't it, _daze_~?" Im Yong Soo asked quietly.

Raivis looked at him, at this eccentric Korean with his long, unruly stylish dark-brown hair, the random curl poking out of it, his strange, golden eyes, and his smile, constant and wide as the sea. He never would have befriended such a person in normal circumstances, but he was finding that these circumstances were far from normal – and that "far from normal" wasn't bad.

It wasn't bad at all.

His down-trodden spirit, scared of everybody and above nobody, was learning what it felt like to let go, to let life take you where it took you, thanks to this oddly good man.

"Sure, but there are other things much more beautiful," Raivis heard himself say, the words surprising him as much as they surprised Im Yong Soo.

And, oh, how they surprised Im Yong Soo. He knew the language of the human heart, knew what it meant when Raivis said something like that while blushing and looking down into his lap.

Well, that path was wide enough for two.

"I couldn't agree more, _daze_~" he replied.

The blush further colored Raivis' cheeks – a cute look for him, Im Yong Soo decided. An idea suddenly hit him, and, as he was one to act upon his ideas, he inquired:

"Raivis, can I claim your breasts, _daze_~?"

"But I don't have any breasts …" Raivis said, confused.

"It's something I do with pretty girls I meet (and, occasionally, with my older brother to annoy him)," the Korean explained. "I claim their breasts to show how much I like them, _daze_~! And I like you, so I want to claim yours! So, can I? Please?"

Raivis didn't get the chance to answer, though, because, just then, someone came up from behind them to interrupt their conversation.

"I'm sorry, but Raivis is mine, _da_?"

"O-oh no," Raivis muttered, and he began to quiver, literally quiver, as though being shaken by some sort of unseen force.

The interrupter was a huge, bear of a man, tall and wide enough to be imposing, silver-haired violet-eyed, dressed in a coat that nearly reached his size-twenty boots and a long, purple scarf. One would expect a man such as this to wear a frightening expression, but he defied his stereotype by instead grinning happily (and more than a bit creepily.)

He turned to Raivis, asking, "Where have you been? I've been looking for you for hours, but I couldn't find you. The tracker in your phone must have been broken, _da_?"

"Um … _da_," Raivis replied.

Im Yong Soo leaned over to whisper into his ear, "Is that guy your boss? I don't really like him, _daze_~"

"_Da_, I am Ivan, Raivis' boss and his cousin," the man said. "But that is of no consequence to you, _da_? Now, Raivis, you have to come home with me, _da_? I have to punish you for running off like that, but I can't do it in public, now, can I?"

"N-no, s-sir," Raivis stammered, internally kicking himself for completely forgetting about Ivan, knowing that the punishment would be cruel and probably illegal, but there would be nothing he could do to prevent it from happening.

"Good." Ivan grabbed his cousin and began walking away quickly, tugging Raivis by the arm.

"Ivan, you're … _ow_ … hurting my arm …" Raivis protested.

"Good."

They were disappearing from Im Yong Soo's life when he realized that he didn't want that, he couldn't have that, he still had to find out so many things about Raivis, and –

"STOP."

Ivan turned around, an expression of cold amusement on his face, to find the Korean standing, fists clenched, trembling with an emotion absolutely unlike fear. "_Da_?"

"You can't just take him away!"

The huge man laughed, the creepiest laugh Im Yong Soo had ever heard. "And how, exactly, do you expect to stop me?"

"I-I can do _tae kwon do_." Im Yong Soo found himself stammering – such was the intimidating effect Ivan had on people.

"Really." Ivan seemed genuinely curious. "You will show me, _da_?"

The Korean proceeded to give the same demonstration he had shown Raivis earlier, but the longer he showed off his punches and kicks, the less they seemed impressive and the more they seemed stupid, mere child's play compared to what Ivan could do.

And then, as he demonstrated a particularly difficult kick involving jumping in the air and spinning on one leg, he was pushed down as easily as if he was a mere toothpick. The next thing he knew, he lay on his back, prostate, with a good half a foot of Russian nose inches from his face.

Im Yong Soo was certain he was about to die.

"That's what happens to people to try to take my Raivis away from me," Ivan whispered, sounding and looking like the scariest variety of Grim Reaper. "I will never see you again, _da_?"

Behind them, there was a snap.

Not an audible snap, but the sort of mental snap that is loud enough, powerful enough, and dramatic enough for everyone to hear.

"_Nyet_," said Raivis.

It was Raivis and yet at the same time not Raivis, Raivis reborn, Raivis re-made who approached Ivan with a face of steel and the stature of an emperor. He was David facing Goliath, a son about to inflict torture on his father's murderer, a prince taking justice into his own hands.

"He didn't try to take me away, I tried to run away," he told Ivan, pointing at his cousin and facing in such a way that Ivan was scared. "It's not his fault, it's mine. And you can punish me, if you dare, but you can't punish him."

His fist came forward too quickly for it to be visible, but not slowly enough for it not to be felt.

It was felt, all right.

Quite painfully.

By Ivan's huge, precious nose.

As the Russian cupped his hands around the blood now flowing from his nose, shocked by his subordinate's behavior and yet, deep down, not surprised, Raivis reached out a hand to Im Yong Soo.

The Korean took it.

"Sorry about that," Raivis apologized, not stammering in the slightest.

"It's no big deal," Im Yong Soo said. "I've been through worse. But thanks, _daze_~!"

"For what?"

"For not leaving me."

"Why would I ever do that?"

"…"

"By the way, in answer to your earlier question, no, you cannot claim my breasts. But can I claim yours?"

"Do you even have to ask, _daze_~?"

Off they walked, hand in hand, into a new, better path of life underneath the now-shining sun and the purple sky.

* * *

><p><strong>I don't even know what this fic is. It's an odd, very crack-y pairing, so it's an odd, very crack-y fic, I guess.<strong>

**I kinda like it, though.**

**Review and tell me if you liked it, as well. :)**

**(By the way, I don't actually ship this ... Latvia/Netherlands and China/Korea, anyone? :D)**


End file.
